COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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Most Canadians confident government will be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine: Nanos survey (CTV News) Published on: September 6, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

Canadians appear to feel confident in the government’s ability to acquire and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine when one is made available, according to a new survey by Nanos Research.
Seven in 10 survey respondents told Nanos Research that they are confident (31 per cent) or somewhat confident (43 per cent) that the government has a plan that will keep as many Canadians as possible safe.
These observations are based on an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,039 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, 2020 as part of an omnibus survey.

Ottawa to extend small-business rent relief program as officials consider reforming it, sources say (The Globe and Mail) Published on: September 6, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

The federal government will extend its widely criticized pandemic rent-relief program for small businesses into September, sources familiar with policy discussions say, as the governing Liberals work through options to reform it.
On Aug. 31, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Small Business Minister Mary Ng declined to say CECRA would be extended into September, but Ms. Freeland said that “we’re going to have more to say about [rent relief] very soon.”
The federal government said that 63,000 small businesses had been approved for CECRA by the end of July, but that only accounted for about 16 per cent of those that should be eligible, according to research from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Hopes of US stimulus deal fade after strong jobs report (FT) Published on: September 6, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Economists and analysts expected an agreement to be struck by the end of the month to plough about $1.5tn in new government money into the economy, which could be pivotal to sustaining the US rebound. But prospects for a deal have diminished.
After the release of the unemployment data on Friday, Larry Kudlow, President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, told Bloomberg TV that the US could “absolutely live with” no deal on new stimulus.

These 7 charts from the August jobs report show how far the labor market recovery has come — and how much further it has to go (Business Insider) Published on: September 5, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

The US economy added 1.4 million jobs in August, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.4%, the Labor Department reported Friday. So far, the US economy has recovered 48% of jobs from pre-coronavirus levels.
“Progress is clearly being made but there are still 11.5 million people who are out of a job as a result of the COVID shock,” said Michelle Meyer, US economist at Bank of America, in a Friday note.

The pandemic has caused a surprising rebound for the unions — participation is now higher than it’s been in 15 years (Toronto Star) Published on: September 5, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

The number of workers covered by a union contract reached an all-time high of almost five million by end-2019. As a share of total employment, union coverage rebounded slightly (after years of slow erosion) to 30.2 per cent.
During the first half of 2020, however, union coverage surged to almost 32 per cent — the highest in 15 years. To be sure, that increase was driven by a disproportionate decline in non-union employment.
Union-covered workers were half as likely to lose their jobs during the initial shutdowns as non-union workers.

Banks are embracing apps and some restaurants now require a smartphone to enter — so what happens if you don’t have one? (Toronto Star) Published on: September 5, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

Experts say the “digital divide” — the gap between Canadians with access to internet and mobile phones and those without access — is widening thanks to the pandemic in myriad ways from access to contact tracing apps and public health information, to basic services such as banking.
According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s 2019 Communications Monitoring Report, 90 per cent of Canadian households have a mobile subscription, while 89 per cent have internet.
However, the percentage of Canadians with access to mobile phones and internet changes when income is factored in: the same report found that while 2.4 per cent of the highest-income households relied solely on a landline, 23.9 of the lowest-income households only had a landline.

The closure of Canada’s border with Alaska has split a remote community (The Economist) Published on: September 5, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

Few american towns are as remote as Hyder, a settlement of 65 people in the panhandle that juts south from the rest of Alaska between Canada and the Pacific.
The border is lightly policed. There is no American post. The Canadian guard’s shift ends at 4.30pm. Cameras and a telephone connection to an agent somewhere else in Canada keep watch after that.
But Hyderites and Stewardites value togetherness. Mr Loe and Gina McKay, Stewart’s mayor, want the towns to be able to form a bubble that would let their citizens mingle freely.

Coronavirus: What’s happening around the world on Friday (CBC) Published on: September 4, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

Widespread COVID-19 vaccinations not expected until mid-2021, WHO says.
None of the candidate vaccines in advanced clinical trials so far has demonstrated a “clear signal” of efficacy at the level of at least 50 per cent sought by WHO, spokesperson Margaret Harris said.

The Service Economy Meltdown (NY Times) Published on: September 4, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

For this army of service workers across urban America, the pandemic risks becoming more than a short-term economic shock. If white-collar America doesn’t return to the office, service workers will be left with nobody to serve.
The worry is particularly acute in cities, which for decades have sustained tens of millions of jobs for workers without a college education.
Consider Nike’s decision in the spring to allow most employees at its headquarters in the Portland area to work remotely. Aramark, which runs the cafeteria and catering at Nike, furloughed many of its workers.

Warp Speed chief calls pre-election vaccine ‘extremely unlikely’ (Washington Post) Published on: September 4, 2020 | Category: Global Response

The chief scientific adviser for the Trump administration’s effort to accelerate production of a coronavirus vaccine said it was “possible but very unlikely” that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready to distribute by the end of October or early November.
The timeline included in the federal government’s guidance for states has raised concerns about political pressure.
Trump has placed heavy pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to approve treatments and vaccines, raising alarm among scientists.

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